How To: Easily Trim Hedges Yourself

Being a homeowner has many pros and cons. Sure you have yard space to hold a great dinner party and garden outside of containers, but keeping up on the yard work can sometimes seem daunting. Even if you like that sort of thing. Here's an easy tip on how to keep your bushes looking sharp without making them look like your 5 year old trimmed them for you.

First rule of thumb when it comes to trimming your hedges or bushes...String is for weenies. That's right... weenies. You have seen how it works, you tie string to poles, and somehow amidst the flying bush debris you are supposed to be able to see this thin flimsy string bouncing around to use as a guideline. It doesn't work... not around here anyway.

Taking the "String on Pole" concept to the next level, bamboo poles were shoved (the same ones we use to stake our tomatoes) in the ground, roughly 6 feet apart and ran skinny blue masking tape (any kind will do really) from pole to pole.

This eliminates the hassle of actually using a level, as you just position the tape on the bush, or stick it to leaves to make the angle in which you desire.

While trimming, be it with manual or electric hedge trimmers, you are able to see your line at all times and from all sides of the bush. It's a time saver and because the tape sticks to the leaves along the line, there's no sagging like you get with string. Sure sure you can eyeball it, but if you have more than a few bushes, sometimes this can be disastrous. Even if you aren't a homeowner, this is a great tip in case you get the call from friends or family to come lend a hand. Happy Trimming!